Goodness Gracious, What a Day!!

GOODNESS! Sleep was amazing. In fact, it was so great that some of us decided that we were not going to wake up when our beautiful leaders came and woke us up at 6:45am. However, it was obvious that the thought of seeing hundreds of smiling children motivated all of us to push through the jet-lag and get our legs moving. As we walked out of our comfy shipping containers, the beauty of Anika, our resort, was almost as good as our slumber. In all honesty, this place has been hand-crafted by God himself. The brisk, yet humid morning was characterized by the cold sand between our rooms and the dining area. The sun was shining just over us, and the Philippine Sea was gracefully swaying in the distance. It was breathtaking. Breakfast consisted of waffles, eggs, and sausage. It was delicious, but it also reminded a lot of us of you guys and home. After a quick hour of being awake, it was time to head over to the famous jeepneys. In groups of about 15 people we loaded up and started our forty-five minute route to Tarong Elementary School. The ride was impactful in so many ways. Some of us sang music at the top of our lungs…others conversed among themselves about life and their own experiences…the rest of us had our eyes glued to the scenery outside. Bantayan is beautiful, but it also has a significant amount of poverty. Many of us had not ever seen anything like it, and I am positive that plenty of perspectives on life have been altered by being exposed to the run-down houses, animals, barren landscape, and people. We had not even arrived at the school and lives were being changed. Eventually, we got to the school. There were kids everywhere smiling and waiting eagerly for us to hop out of our jeepneys and be with them. Immediately the whole team was welcomed with the sound of drums and the sight of dancers waving their batons. It moved us all in ways words can’t describe. Some us cried and others could not stop smiling. After the welcoming that we received so undeservingly, it was time to interact with all of the beautiful children. They were extremely giving, loving, happy, gracious, joyful, enthusiastic, and so much more. It was evident that they grabbed a hold of our hearts. They were the proof. The proof that God does not have borders, and that He is in the hearts of kids in the farthest places from our home. We can’t wait for you guys back home to see all of their faces in the pictures that were taken. We spent hours playing games with the kids before it was time to get to work. This year, God presented the team with the task of finishing a stage in the center of the school. The stage would serve as meeting place for not only students, but the community. We were all excited. The team divided the jobs of passing rocks and buckets, shoveling a mountain of rock and dirt, and wheelbarrowing the larger rocks that would all end up at the base of the stage. We worked for hours in the heat, but we were all living. It was difficult labor, but the whole team had the largest smiles on their faces as we started to finally grow closer and closer. Soon enough, the children came out of class, but instead of going home, they ran to help. Some of them grabbed a bucket with dirt and took it to the unfinished stage, and others seemed to be challenging each other to see how many rocks they could pick up. It was mesmerizing to watch. For lunch we had tons of rice, chicken, kabobs, and delicious eggrolls and mangos. Nothing ever tasted so good. The lunch break was a much needed for rest and hydration. We were grateful for this time, but as we looked out of the windows of the classroom where we were eating, we saw all of the kids still working hard and laughing. We traveled roughly 45 hours to make it to this place to serve them, yet they were selflessly serving us in ways we could not comprehend. After a few more hours of work under the beating sun, it was time to go back to the resort. We loaded the jeepneys once again and traveled back to our home for the next couple of days. When we got to the resort, we were all exhausted and overheated. It was a kind mix of tiredness and joy. Mostly joy. During free time, some us took a dip in pool and others grabbed some smoothies. It was another great time to bond, relax, and take in this beautiful island. At 7:00pm it was time for dinner. What was on today’s menu? Anika Fried Rice. It was amazing. We were living. Soon after dinner, we met for large group to talk about our day, we worshipped together, and Mary Madden shared a great message about how we need to understand that there is a purpose in waiting for God to show up. Then, we moved into small group where we shared testimonies and grew closer together. Goodness. This day was amazing. We are so grateful and humbled to be here. All glory to God for the Philippines.

We love you guys more than anything in the world.

With love,Martin and Gabby

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45 thoughts on “Goodness Gracious, What a Day!!”

Thank you again for taking the time to update us, with such eloquence and detail. Seems like many of you could pursue writing!!
Can’t wait to see pics of the children’s faces you have the privilege of meeting and loving on.
So very proud of all of you. Such hard work with even bigger rewards.
The food sounds delicious and will continue to pray for good health!
Big hugs to our Halle girl and love to all of you!!
The Daube Family
#hydrate #sunscreen

What an awesome day, and again thank you for the update. Waiting on the updates is hard (selfish I know) Missing Haley so so much but hearing about all the amazing work you all are doing there warms my heart and makes the wait bearable!
Tell Haley Cleo and Gabbi miss her tons as do I!! And stop feeding her all her favorite food as she might not want to come home! Ha!
Sending HUGE hugs and lots of love to you all… especially to my baby bug!

So amazing! I sit here and read this and feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that this wonderful group is having so many life changing experiences. There is nothing like the smile and laughter from an innocent child and I know this group is bringing these children more joy than they could imagine. Continuing to pray for rest, peace and a journey like no other! XO – Toni Baus
ps.. I bet Taylor loved the fried rice!!! 🙂

I know you must all be so tired. Thank you for working so hard to show those sweet children that you care enough about them to travel half way around the world just to serve them. You are showing them that that are IMPORTANT and valued. You are all doing an AMAZING job of being the hands and feet of Jesus. Please give big hugs to Saralee and all of the Quest staff from The Webb Family. We are praying for you daily. We miss you Charlie. Love Mom

My heart is bursting reading this!! I can already tell that your lives are being changed for the good, Bantayan and those kiddos will do that to you! Ohhh how I miss those smoothies and that view, praises and prayers to you all! I love you guys!!

Thank you so much for the update! I am sitting here in tears imagining all of the amazing ways God is working through each and everyone of you! Jordan Hope-Dad, Trevor, Rocky, Apollo & I miss you terribly, but know you are doing amazing work!!!! We love you baby girl!!!!

Couldn’t help but tear up reading this recap of the day. Thank you so much for pouring out your hearts so we can feel your experiences!
I hope each of you know that you are being the hands of Jesus with each rock placed on the stage that will bring joy to the community. God has you there in these moments for a purpose & he knows each life that this stage & meeting place will impact. You have helped lay God’s fingerprint on all of it. You are forever a part of its history. These sweet kiddos that are rushing to help with this project are seeing Jesus just as clearly in you if you are running and playing with them or if you’re shoveling and passing rocks.
Praying for rest, health, energy and full hearts. ❤️

I live for these updates. Thank you for taking the time to share such detail about your day and your experiences. I know what an incredible impact you are having on those children and that community. Morgan Nale – I miss you more than words can describe. I also can’t begin to explain how incredibly proud I am of you. You are the absolute essence of kindness, beauty, love and happiness. I wish I was half the person you are. I love you to the moon and back. Go make many, many memories but hurry back home because I miss you so very much.
PS – Drink lots of water , wear sunscreen, and I hope you aren’t driving your roommate crazy with your messiness!!! 🤪

What an amazing day! So proud of you all. Thank you for the detailed updates, I love them! To be able to spread God’s love to the people of Bantayan and beyond is such an amazing privilege. What an impact you are having on them and they are having on you as well. The food sounds amazing! Hope you are enjoying it! We miss you and love you so much Sarah! Love, Mom, Dad and Remi

Amazing!!! I had literal happy tears reading through this! The stories you all will have. Please don’t forget to journal. So important!! Chloe – I keep picturing you holding those precious children like you love to do. So proud of you! Miss you so and can’t wait to give you the biggest hug ever!!!! But I can wait – keep doing what God called you to do. 🙂 Love to all!! Xoxo PJ Friedel

Holy cow! I love everything about this post! Thank you all for being available to do God’s work. Thank you for being a vessel of God’s love to people of this tiny island. Rest when you can. Take advantage of every opportunity given to you on this amazing trip to share the story of God’s grace and goodness. You are covered in prayers!! Hug my Gurr boys!! Love and miss you!!
Val

Wow. Yall. This was so amazing to read. Tears come to my eyes when I think of how amazing God is and how He is working through this amazing team and its only been a few days! Praying and sending lots of love ❤
someone give halle the biggest hug from me! miss you!

My heart. Nothing beats those kids and their selfless love. God is so present and it makes me so happy. Thank you for taking the time to make these updates through the exhaustion. I love y’all. And someone keep Eli from drinking the vinegar!

Major tears reading this let me be honest here. The memories are flooding back right now oh boy. There seriously hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought of those sweet kids, their smiling faces, and the memories. These kids will remember you forever and the impact you have on their life is crazy. You are all a light of God. Enjoy every second you have serving and focus on living in the moment on this trip! I’ll be praying BIG for this team. I’m so proud of each of y’all and your willingness to serve God. Miss y’all

What a beautifully worded update (that I can hardly read because of the tears overflowing from my eyes). It is such a blessing to me that there are wonderful, loving, giving teens like you all who have given up part of your summer to do God’s work. You are seeing what life is like in a third world country and helping to make it better. You are amazing! Thank you, Gabby and Martin for writing this detailed description!

Wow! What an amazing recap of your time spent in the Philippines. You all are so blessed to be able to spend this precious time sharing your faith. Peyton, we miss you like crazy! Dad and I both cried happy tears while reading these updates!! Good news from home!!! Ashley is feeling so much better and got to go home!! God is so good! We are praying for you all daily! We Love you!!

So glad to hear all our friends are experiencing such life change!! As we read we can just imagine how all our besties are feeling. When we see the stars are night we are thinking of all our bestfriends who are there. We miss you guys so much, and are praying hard for you guys!! Love you guys so so much!!
With Love,
Ma and Gaba (katie and sophie)

Sounds incredible!!! So proud of this team and these students and how they are embracing every moment as God had planned it!! Continuing to pray for safety and amazing moments orchestrated by our great God!! Miss you Emma D!! 🥰🥰😐

Wow, your description of the entire day made us feel like we were there with you. We are in spirit. So happy the day went well and you were able to make such an impact on these kids lives. I bet they will sleep well tonight knowing they get to do this all over again with you all tomorrow. Thank you for the update. Ash, dad and I miss you like crazy but we can handle you being over there knowing you are doing exactly what God has intended for you to do. Love you, sweetie! Big hugs to the entire group! XOXO

Wow. All the memories keep flooding back as I read these posts. I am so excited for each and every single one of y’all that you get the opportunity to love on these children. I promise you their smiling faces will never be forgotten. I Still remember it like it was yesterday. Soak in every single moment, Learn from the kids and the way they enjoy life. Forget about anything that might be distracting you from that moment because I promise one day you will want to remember this feeling. I am praying for safety, health, and peace for all of y’all over the next few days in the school. I am so proud of y’all, keep changing the world! Love y’all:)

Whats up guys. It’s Cole. Im so excited for you guys to go to the school, because I know you guys are not only going to teach those kids peace love and Jesus, but also a little bit of sauce. But on a serious note, i’m praying that all the first timers fall in love with Bantayan the way that I did, and to all the returners, I pray that the kids and the families teach you something new, just like they did for me. Make sure not flex your Louie belts too hard, and say hey to Helen and Rosa for me. I love you guys so much.
-Cole

Wow, such detail! I can almost see the location just from the narrative. The food sounds amazing as well. I am a bit jealous. It sounds like the exchange of Jesus’ love through service is in full power. Everyone involved gets the blessing as it overflows from Him who is its source. We are in prayer daily for the ministry and health of the team. We miss you Sarah and hope you are well (and hydrated). Remi says hello / bark. love, Dad

FRIENDS! hey! goodness, i hear those drums and know that feeling of entering that school. it’s a thin place. a lot closer to heaven than most places i’ve been. i’ve been thinking and praying for this team and yalls time at tarong. especially my lil blonde sis taylor. ( i’m sure they loved your hair tay!!! ) its a beautiful thing to go to serve and leave served. i think it’s how a lot more of life should look like. drink water and work hard friends. your work may be tough, but there’s fruit in the labor. mahal kits ates and kuyas! you’re loved from the states!

So thankful for these updates …love hearing about your daily experiences. It’s 8:00 here in FOCO and wondering what you might be doing right about now getting ready for day TWO….it was only 100 degrees today. I can’t help think these high temps provide a small glimpse of your weather on the island. Happy to hear everyone is adapting well to their new temporary home…please remember stay hydrated (but drink the good water). Praying for everyone for another fabulous day and continued heath….miss you Emma. Can the person on your right please provide a giant bear hug to my baby girl. Hugs and love for all ❤️

Keep the amazing updates and photos coming!!! This teams love for God and hard work can be felt all the way back here in Forsyth County! We love and miss you Garrett! Don’t brush your teeth with the water and wear your sunscreen! 😘

sounds absolutely amazing, reading this brought the biggest smile to my face! hope everyone is having an amazing, life changing time. pls give big hugs to my sweet sister sk. miss her and love her so much💛💛 praying so big for this team!!

Oh my goodness! Martín and Gabby I loved the way that you wrote every detail about the day. It was amazing! It felt so real. I can’t wait to see more pictures. I know that this experience is going to change you forever. I am sure that you are going to experience the real kind of Love that God wants us to experience. There is nothing better in this life than serving others. Only when you step out of your comfort zone and serve others you can understand what happiness is all about. I thank God every day for our church and for all of you. I love you Martin and I miss you a lot. Also, have fun with the kids, but don’t forget to spray your hair every day. 💙🤗😊🙏
Karson, we love you too. ❤️

Wow! You’re Day sounds Amazing! Thank you for providing such vivid detail. It does make us feel like we are there with you. And although we can’t physically be there please know that we are with you in spirit and that you are surrounded by our love and prayers.
My beautiful Peanut…… we love you so much and it made us so happy just to see your beautiful smile in that group pic! You look so cute! Fashionable in the Philippines…….should we be surprised?😂 I know that your heart is happy surrounded by all of those wonderful children and because of your loving, kind heart, you will have a huge impact on them. You are exactly where you need to be. We are so grateful that you have been given this opportunity . God has great plans for you! We all love and miss you so much! Sending you Huge Hugs and Kisses!🤗😘XOXO
PS I know they weren’t referring to you when they were talking about not wanting to get up in the morning…..ummmm……right?🤔

Hi my sweet Haley! Dennis (and Samantha) could not be more proud of you!! You are amazing for giving your time, talent and devotion to those in need. You chose the most difficult of missions (I am not surprised) and rose to the occasion!! I am so happy that God placed you in not only Samantha’s life but all of ours. We will keep you and your team in our prayers as you do this incredible work!! Love you

MARTÎN!! I knew you wrote this I could
just tell by reading it! I miss y’all tons and I can’t wait to hug y’all big time when you get back!! God is so great and he is doing great things this week! ask excited for what’s to come for the rest of y’alls trip! Miss you Martin and thank you for the awesome blog post! Love y’all!

Oh my goodness! I know there will be so many replies to get through so I’ll try to keep mine short:) Although I miss the pines dearly, I am so grateful to get to experience it all over again through the blog! I have a few tips!! 1- live in the moment. i know it seems like you just got there, & i don’t want to bum y’all out, but before you know it you’ll be heading home, so make your time there count, no matter what you are doing. 2- befriend the adults there!! they are so so sweet & so fun to be around and get to know (please tell them loci balasi says hi:)) 3- write down what happens in a personal journal! i wish i had done this because SO MANY people will ask what you did and although there are so many memories you will never forget, it is always helpful to have it written down. & 4- listen to God. I know we can all become our ‘mission trip self’ while we’re away, and take advantage of that! get in the routine of talking to God throughout the day, relying on him to give you strength throughout the trip, and pray that you can continue to grow even back in America. I know i said i would keep it short but i tried my best!!! can’t wait to read about the rest of the trip, mahal kita!<3 lucy

So excited for all of you!! Each of you are in our prayers daily. You are making a huge impact and having the same made on you. Keep the updates coming! Cannot wait to see the pictures. Shout out to Haley! Your little brother even misses you!! JayJay and Coop are doing great and send their love. Dad

This blog post was amazing and I have loved reading them and getting to hear about all the experiences y’all have had so far. I know God is going to do and has already doing BIG things through each and everyone of you and I can’t wait to hear all about the life change that has been happening! Sending love to my bestie SK! Miss you so so much! Looking forward to the next update!

Friends! I am so happy to hear from y’all about your incredible day. Sending so many prayers up for your safety and praying that you all are finding out more about the Father’s love and the ways in which He reveals Himself to us. I can’t wait to hear more about your adventures in the Philippines!! I love and miss you all so much! (especially you Karson, the lakes aren’t the same without you…)
-Kendall

Gabby and Martin-thank you for such an eloquent and detailed blog post. You must have similar writing styles, because half way through, I thought, this sounds like Gabby’s writing! We appreciate being able to feel like we are there with you, and all of the posts have captured your travels so well. This team rocks! It’s wonderful to know that you are all doing so well. You must be listening to your leaders and parents-staying hydrated, sun-screened, and being smart about a work/play/sleep balance. We pray for you all daily, that you are staying healthy, making a difference, and doing God’s work through this trip on which you were all called to serve. Enjoy all the moments.
We are in Holland, MI now, Gabby. The cousins all miss you and wish you were tubing on the lake with them, but are all proud of you! Dad and I miss you lots. ❤️ Will, too. He even says it every day.

Traveling is the best teacher and you are all learning that.Love reading the blogs.It is my favorite summer reading and look forward to the next chapter ❤️.The memories you are making will last a lifetime.Love to Emma and all her friends.

y’all are so incredible! through the heat and the exhaustion and everything else you push through and amaze me! God is really working through y’all! Mark 16:15 says “He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Y’all have really taken this verse and put it into action! Keep working hard and thanking the Lord in every moment! It may not be easy sometimes but trust that God is with you and that you can persevere through any challenge! Love y’all! Can’t wait to see you when you get home!

Wow this is amazing! I love all the details and I will be praying for all of you. Emma, I know I’m late with the bachelorette update but I will be sending it on the next blog post! I can’t imagine how tired you must be but know that its so rewarding to serve God’s kingdom. Rest in Him and I love ya ❤

WOW! Thank you for the update. It’s been the highlight of my week to be able to read these posts and see what this awesome group of people is doing on the other side of the world! It’s amazing to see how much God is already worked in and through this team in little time you’ve been there, although it feels like y’all have been gone for weeks. I’m so excited, as I know you all are as well, to see what God has in store for you throughout the rest of your time there. I pray that you all stay safe and a special shout out to Emily Wickman. I love you and I miss you a bunch and I can’t wait to hear all about this experience when you get back!

It sure does sound like the Lord is working powerfully through your team, and that Glory for Him is the most encouraging thing to read…thank you for making us feel like a part of it!!! All the details make us smile 🙂
We will pray for the continued abundance of smiles, physical perseverance, and overall good spirits of the team.
Caroline H:
We love you lina!!!!!!!!!!! Continue to spread that big heart of yours & don’t hold back- the Lord works beautifully through you. We hope you are soaking in every moment.
Love, us.
Cheers to the team! Thanks again for such wonderful updates!

Sounds like you are all having a wonderful time. My favorite part of the day is anxiously checking my phone waiting for your update(s). Thinking of you all and praying for rest, continued good health and strength as you go about your day. To be able to serve as your doing, spreading God’s love is such an awesome privilege!

God has given you each a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1 Peter 4:10 is the scripture I pray for you all daily.
Misty- (love you Eli and Sadie)

Hi everyone! Hearing about all the hard work y’all are doing is making me tired just reading this update! Lol. I’m so incredibly proud of each and everyone of you for all of your hard work – you are making a difference and that’s what we are all here for. Can’t wait to hear more about the stories that are unfolding including more on Mary Maddens message. Someone above wrote that some of you should be writers – I agree! I have seen some of your posts on Instagram and Facebook and just blown away at how articulate you are with your words for each other and for God. Keep up the good work! John, Ella and I send our love to you all.